The present invention relates generally to tree stands for hunting and more particularly to portable ladder-type tree stands.
Deer hunters and other sportsmen often utilize tree stands as elevated hunting platforms when hunting large game such as deer or elk. Basically, tree stands are of two general types. Climbing tree stands have a seat or other platform mounted to a framework adapted to encircle a tree, pole, or the like by which the user can manipulate the structure upwardly and downwardly along the tree trunk or pole to assist the user in climbing to and from the desired elevation. Ladder-style tree stands, on the other hand, have a seat or other platform mounted to one end of a ladder-like structure which can be placed against a tree or pole to support the overall structure while the user climbs to a from the seat or platform along the ladder portion.
In either case, hunting from a stand provides the sportsman with numerous advantages, such as the ability to observe an unobstructed view of a large area, increasing the hunter's chance for success. In addition, the chance of a hunter being sighted or scented by an animal is greatly reduced. Further, and perhaps more important, the hunter is removed from the line of fire of other ground-based hunters and by firing at a downward angle, any bullets which miss or pass through their target are directed into the ground. Accordingly, a hunter in a tree stand is typically safer and more successful than a ground-based hunter.
Various portable ladder-type hunting stands are known in the art. Bamburg U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,314 discloses a sectioned ladder-like hunting stand that may be readily clamped to a tree and disassembled into sections for transporting on the back of a hunter. Purdy U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,247 discloses another ladder-like hunting stand which leans against a tree, is chained thereto and, again, has the ability to be disassembled into sections for hunter mobility. Amacker U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,888 discloses a foldable ladder hunting stand which is chained to a tree and folds into a compact unit for transportation. Wilson U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,792 discloses a large platform affixed to a collapsible ladder for leaning against a tree and being chained thereto. Dunn U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,732 discloses a sectioned ladder and a platform which is attached to a tree, the sectioned ladder being comprised of removable ladder sections for portability with an uppermost frame portion which functions as skids on which to drag the hunting stand around. Eagleson U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,020 discloses another sectioned ladder having a platform at the uppermost portion for attachment to a tree, the device of Eagleson being convertible into a wheelbarrow using removable wheels and side panels. Other similar hunting stands are shown in George U.S. Pat. No. 3,057,341 which discloses a ladder having a platform attachable to a tree and McSwain U.S. Pat. No. 3,336,999 which discloses a sectioned ladder having a platform at one end thereof and a springloaded clamp for clamping the apparatus to a tree.
Ladder-type tree stands offer the advantage in comparison to climbing tree stands of enabling the hunter to conveniently climb to and from the seat or platform without the annoying and time-consuming necessity of manipulating the stand itself as is the case with climbing stands. On the other hand, ladder stands are characteristically larger, bulkier, and much more inconvenient to store and transport from one location to another than climbing stands.
Further, each type of prior stand suffers the disadvantages of requiring a tree, pole, or other like auxiliary support member to be operative, making the stands unusable in non-wooded areas which sometimes are prime hunting spots.